At the pre-construction meeting on Wednesday, June 14, Weeks Marine announced that the pumping of sand for the Buxton beach nourishment project is now estimated to begin on Saturday, June 17, 2017.
Representatives from the company reported that resources are now in place for the start of the project. An 8,000 foot subline (30 inch steel pipe) was submerged toward the borrow area on Sunday, June 11. The dredge C. R. McCaskill was towed towards Buxton on June 13 and is currently positioned offshore of the project area.
The starting point for the project, where subline connects with the onshore pipes, is approximately 1,000 feet north of the northern boundary for the village of Buxton. Once pumping operations begin, crews will begin building a pad around the landing point of the subline. Once the pad is completed, construction will initially proceed to the north until reaching the temporary resource protection area that has been established by the National Park Service to protect nesting birds. At that point, crews will move back to the project’s initial starting point and proceed south. When the resource protection area is no longer in place, work will resume to the north. After work is completed to the northern project boundary, work will resume to the south until the project is completed.
Once construction begins, the project is expected to be completed in approximately 90 days under normal conditions.
